Apparatus for attaching fasteners to a garment in registration

ABSTRACT

A feed arrangement is disclosed for feeding two component fasteners, such as buttons, snaps and the like having a pronged head element and a backing element, to an apparatus in such fashion that the design on the obverse of the head elements will be in register at the time the fasteners are attached to a garment by the apparatus. The feed arrangement for each element includes a hopper-chute assembly, a guide channel and a two-step feed means. The guide channel and drive means are arranged to receive elements from the chute and move them in two steps to a setting station where an anvil and ram secure the elements together on a garment. The guide channel is formed by two opposing, spaced side walls, one of which is spring biased towards the longitudinal axis of the channel and presents a roughened surface toward the channel. The difference in friction between the elements and each of the side walls causes the elements to rotate as they are moved in the feed direction until further rotation is prevented by a portion of the element engaging a pusher arm of the drive means.

United States Patent [191 Beneteau June 11, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 261,880

[52] US. Cl 227/119, 227/116, 29/432.2, 29/509 [51] Int. Cl A4lh 37/10 [58] Field of Search 227/15, 18, 43, 114, 116, 227/119; 29/432.2, 509; 221/1 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,798,970 3/1931 Clark 227/43 1,967,662 7/1934 227/119 X 2588,486 3/1952 227/116 2,878,954 3/1959 227/119 X 3,750,925 8/1973 Schmidt et a1 227/18 Primary EraminerGranville Y. Custer, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or FirmAlexander R. Field 5 7] ABSTRACT A feed arrangement is disclosed for feeding two component fasteners, such as buttons, snaps and the like having a pronged head element and a backing element,'to an apparatus in such fashion that the design on the obverse of the head elements will be in register at the time the fasteners are attached to a garment by the apparatus. The feed arrangement for each element includes a hopper-chute assembly, a guide channel and a two-step feed means. The guide channel and drive means are arranged to receive elements from the chute and move them in two steps to a setting station where an anvil and ram secure the elements together on a garment. The guide channel is formed by two opposing, spaced side walls, one of which is spring biased towards the longitudinal axis of the channel and presents a roughened surface toward the channel. The difference in friction between the elements and each of the side walls causes the elements to rotate as they are moved in the feed direction until further rotation is prevented by a portion of the element engaging a pusher arm of the drive means.

6 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTEBJUM n 1974 3.815805 SHEEI 2 (IF 5 PATENT EDJUN 1 1 m4 sum 3 or 5 PATENTEHJUN 1 I new;

SHEET '4 BF 5 APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING FASTENERS TO A GARMENT IN REGISTRATION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is related to an apparatus for attaching two component fasteners on a garment and in particular to a feeding arrangement which assures that a head element of the fastener bearing indicia will reach a setting station in proper register.

2. Description of the Prior Art The present invention concerns an apparatus for at taching fasteners to material in such a manner that indicia on a head portion of the fastener will be properly oriented with respect to the garment upon which it is mounted. There are many types of fasteners, such as buttons, snap, and rivets, formed by two components, namely a pronged head element and a backing element. Examples of such fasteners may be found in US. Pat. Nos. 1,815,792 (metal snaps), 2,377,263 (buttons), and 3,207,408 (plastic snaps). Frequently the head element will have on the obverse some indicia, such as a a tradename or design, which must be properly oriented to be legible on the finished garment. The fasteners of this type which are to be registered have engagement means or some irregular formation which bears a definite relationship to the design on the obverse side of the head element. Many of the known fastener attaching machines are unable to accomplish any registration of the fastener elements and others are capable of only partial registration in which the head element will either be properly registered or reversed by 180.

The known machines which achieve registration generally require complicated and expensive devices for sensing the position of the head element and to effect the rotation thereof. For example, US. Pat. No. 2,878,954 describes a button registering machine in which a tab on the button must engage in a recess or detent in the end of a spring biased locator to thereby arrest further rotation of the button with the design at the proper relationship to the garment to which it is to be attached. This type of machine requires accurate timing means since the orienting station is axially aligned with the setting station. If there is any delay in registering the button caused by an irregularity in the button or its feed motions, then the button will not be set on the garment with proper orientation.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which will reliably and accurately register indicia bearing head elements of buttons, snaps, and the like as they are successively fed to a setting station.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which will have few moving parts to achieve registration of indicia bearing head elements of buttons snaps and the like as these elements are successively fed to a setting station in a manner substantially free of jamming.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a guide channel having one side spring biased toward the longitudinal axis of the channel and with a roughened surface against which head elements of fasteners frictionally engage and are caused to rotate as they pass along the channel.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for attaching registered fasteners to material which apparatus utilizes the difference in friction developed between a fastener head element and parallel guide walls, one of which is smooth and the other roughened, to rotate the element into registration.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved feed arrangement for pronged fastener elements which includes a hopper-chute assembly, a guide channel, and drive means arranged to drive the pronged elements successively through the guide channel in two steps.

The present fastener registration device is used in a fastener attaching apparatus having a pair of hoppers and their associated chutes feeding head elements and backing elements to respective guide channel means leading to a setting station where an anvil and cooperating ram secure the fastener to a garment. Registration is accomplished by the head element guide channel which receives the head elements from the associated chute at an angle of approximately 45 with prongs, studs and the like projecting from the reverse of the elements being received in a bevelled opening on the side of the channel opposite the chute. A can surface guides the head elements to fully engage in the guide channel during a first drive step. One lateral side of the channel has a roughened friction producing surface which is spring biased toward the longitudinal axis of the channel and causes rotation into registration of the head elements as they are driven therethrough during a second drive step.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear more fully from the following descrip tion when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a fastener attaching apparatus incorporating the registration means of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section through the guide channel taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section through the guide channel taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section through the guide channel taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a vertical section through the guide channel taken along line 66 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal section through the guide channel taken along line 77 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged detail view of a fastener just prior to closure of the anvil and ram; and

FIG. 9 is a rear plan view of a head element of the type fastener used in the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention has been shown and is described in connection with a fastener assembly apparatus of a fairly well known type. Only those portions of the known apparatus which are necessary for an understanding of the present invention have been shown in detail and will be described. For further details of the operating mechanism and structure of known apparatus of this type, reference is made to US. Pat. Nos. 2,048,930; 2,377,263; and 3,225,993. Also the fastener element employed is of the type adapted to close an opening in material, such as an article of clothing, and has been shown as a snap fastener having a head element, with at least two prongs and an irregular formation on the reverse and a design or inscription on the obverse, and a backing element formed as the socket portion of the snap. The irregularity formed on the reverse side of the head element may be a projection, as shown, or a notch and has a definite angular relation to the design or inscription on the obverse side and thus serves for registration purposes. The present feed arrangement will of course feed the mating stud and backing elements of a snap fastener, the only requirement being that the elements having prongs should be fed to the channel shown as the lower guide channel in the drawings.

The fastener attaching apparatus of the present invention has a feed path for each element of a two component fastener, here shown as an inscription bearing head element and a socketed backing element of a snap. The head element feed path is formed by hopper l0, chute 12 attached to the hopper, and guide channel 14 leading from chute 12 to a setting station 16. A similar feed path is formed for the backing element by hop per 18, chute 20 attached to the hopper 18 and backing element guide channel 22 leading from chute 20 to the setting station. These feed paths may be interchanged or similar registering feed paths may be used for both elements.

- The setting station is formed by an anvil 24 and a ram 26 both of which are mounted for cooperating vertical motion. The anvil has a concave end face 28, a pair of jaws 30, 32 on opposite sides thereof and leaf springs 34, 36 biasing the jaws 30, 32 towards each other.

Drive means for the apparatus includes a shaft 38 driven from an external source (not shown). Cams 40, 42 and 44 are fixed to shaft 38 and are in operative engagement with anvil driving linkage 46, ram driving linkage 48, head element pusher linkage 50, 52 and backing element pusher linkage 54, 56. All of the linkages make one actuation of their associated elements for each rotation of shaft 28. The hoppers and 18, which are of a well known type, each have an internal feed arrangement (not shown) for feeding the elements contained therein into the attached chute with the elements all facing in a single direction. Drive for these internal feed arrangements is provided from a power source (not shown) through pulley-belt assemblies 58, 60.

The head element guide channel 14 has a bottom surface element 62 and two spaced side wall assemblies 64, 66. The side wall assembly 64 is formed by wall member 68 fixed to base member 70. The end of the wall member 68 nearest the setting station 16 has an L-shaped member 72 fixed thereon by bolts 74. A guide member 76 is positioned between the bottom surface element 62 and the L-shaped member 72 with flanges 78 and 80 normally engaged due to the bias of spring 82. Pin 84 is fixed in L-shaped member 72 and has spring 82 and guide member 76 loosely mounted thereon. Guide member 76 has a roughened surface 86 directed toward the longitudinal axis of the guide channel. Chute 12 is attached to the side wall assembly 64 by bracket 88 at the end remote from the setting station. A cam element 90 is removably mounted adjacent the chute, in the feed direction, by thumb screw 92 and resilient washer 94. The cam element has a cam surface 96 which is downwardly inclined in the direction of feed.

The side wall assembly 66 is formed by wall member 98 with guide member 100 fixed thereto adjacent the bottom surface element. The end of guide member 100 remote from the setting station is profiled to have an upper, outwardly bevelled area 102, a projection 104 adjacent the bottom surface element and below the bevelled area, and a longitudinal guide recess 106 adjacent the bottom surface element. A longitudinal driving groove 108 extends the length of the outer side of wall element 98 and is closed by cover 110.

The means to push the elements through the guide channel includes pushing member 112 reciprocally mounted in groove 108. First pusher arm 114 is rotatably mounted on pin 116 fixed in member 112 and biased into the channel by spring 118. Pin 120 is also fixed in member 112 parallel to pin 116. The first pusher arm has a head portion 122, an offset connecting portion 124 and base portion 126 through which pin 116 passes. Second pusher arm 128 is rotatably mounted on pin 130 in bushing 132 fixed to pushing member 112. Spring 134 biases the second pusher arm 128 so that profiled end 136 extends upwardly through slot 138 in bottom surface element 62 until pin 1 40 engages the underside of the bottom surface element. Pin 142 is fixed to bottom surface element 62 as a guide for the first pusher arm and back locator for chute 12.

A head element of the type used in the present invention is shown in FIG. 9. The head element 144 has a design 146 on the obverse (shown in phantom) and a pair of prongs 148, 150 and an irregularity in the reverse profile, shown here as projection 152. A socketed backing element 154 mates with the head element.

The backing element guide channel 22 shown is somewhat similar to but more simplified than the head element guide channel 14 since most backing elements do not need to be registered. Thus, the details of this guide channel have not been shown. It should suffice to state the illustrated backing element guide channel includes a pair of flanged, spaced side walls connected by a slotted connecting wall with at least one pusher arm arranged to push the backing elements through the guide channel into jaws 156, 158 of the ram 26.

The above described apparatus of the present invention operates as follows: the hoppers 10 and 18 are filled with their respective elements and the drive means (not shown) is actuated by conventional means (also not shown), such as a foot operated switch, a sufficient number of times to charge the chutes 12 and 20 and the guide elements. It should be here borne in mind that since feed of at least the head elements is by a two step arrangement, it will be necessary to have one actuation of the drive means after the first head element reaches the head element guide channel 14 before the apparatus is ready to begin setting fasteners on a garment.

The leading head element A will fall from the chute 12 into the head element guide channel 14 (as shown by the third'head element C) at an angle of approximately 45 with the prongs 148, 150 thereof being received in the bevelled area 102 and a peripheral edge portion resting in the guide recess 106 of side wall assembly 66 and against projection 104. Projection 104 will initially prevent the forward movement of the head element in the feed direction.

The next actuation of the drive means will cause shaft 38 to make one complete revolution during which cams 40, 42 and 44 will cause linkages 46, 48, 52, 54 and 56 to make one actuation of their associated elements. Considering only the head element feed, linkage 50, 52 will make a clockwise rotation (as shown in FIG. 1), causing an initial forward motion of pushing member 112 by engagement of linkage 52 against pin 120, and then a counterclockwise rotation, during which linkage 50 will engage pin 116 and drive pushing member 112 back to its starting position. In a similar manner linkages 46 and 48 will bring anvil 24 and ram 26 forcefully together and linkages 54 and 56 will cause feed of a backing element through guide channel 22.

The forward movement of pushing member 112 will bring the head portion 122 of the first pusher arm 114 into engagement with the head element and drive it over projection 104. As the head element moves forward, its upper peripheral edge engages the cam surface 96 and is rotated thereby in a downward direction until the head element fully rests against the bottom surface element 62. The first forward movement of the head element stops when the head element reaches the approximate position of second head element B in FIG. 3. The head element can be engaged by the second pusher arm 128 at this position.

It should be noted from FIG. 3 that when the first pusher arm 114 has reached the forward end of its travel, the offset portion 124 is opposite chute 12 allowing the next successive head element to drop into position in the guide channel (again as shown by head element C). As the first pusher arm 114 makes it return movement, the head portion will ride up over head ele ment C against the bias of spring 118. The rear portion of bevelled area 102 and the chute 12 will prevent the head element from being pulled backward. Pin 142 guides the first pusher arm preventing'excessive lateral movement as it rides over the head element.

As the first pusher arm 114 is withdrawn by the rearward movement of pushing member 112, the second pusher arm 128 is also moved to the rear. When the raised end of second pusher arm engages the head element, it is cammed downward against the bias of spring 134 to pass beneath the head element before rising at the rear edge. The frictional engagement of the head element with guide members 76 and 100 will be greater than the force of bias spring 134 so that the head element will not be moved backward any substantial distance from the position where the first pusher arm 114 left it.

The next successive actuation of the drive means will find head elements being driven forward by both pusher arms. The second pusher arm will drive the head element between the guide members 76 and 100, these members being spaced apart a distance slightly less than the diameter of the head elements due to the biasing action of spring 82. The difference in friction between the relatively smooth surface of guide member 100 and the roughened surface of guide member 76 will cause the head element to rotate in a clockwise direction, as shown by the arrow on head element A in FIG. 3. The head element A will rotate until the projection 152 on the reverse side of the head element engages the side of the second pusher arm. Thus the head element arrives at the anvil in registration and, since the prongs have an angular positioning that is within l0 of the irregularity, the prongs are in substantially correct alignment for engagement by jaws of the anvil.

It should be noted that guide member 76 is prevented from making a longitudinal movement along with the head elements by virtue of the loose mounting on pin 84, which mounting allows movement transverse to the longitudinal axis of the channel.

A somewhat similar pusher arm arrangement acting in backing element guide channel delivers a backing element 154 to jaws 156, 158 of ram 26 simultaneously with the delivery of a head element to anvil 24. The next successive actuation of the drive means will forcefully bring the ram and anvil together, as shown in FIG. 8, to set the fastener in the previously positioned garment. The jaws 30, 32, 156 and 158 are cammed out of the way just prior to setting of the fastener. Prongs on the head element are driven through the material and backing element before being deformed sufficiently to insure proper setting of the fastener. The anvil and ram are drawn apart simultaneously with the rearward movement of the pusher arms.

The present fastener attaching apparatus is thus able to feed fastener elements to a setting station in an accurate manner.

The guide channel 14 has been described in connection with feeding of only head elements and shown as the lower of the two guide channels. However,'it is within the scope of the present invention to effect the necessary modifications to feed backing elements through guide channel 14, to interchange the positioning of guide channels 14 and 22 so that the upper most elements are registered, and to subsitute a second guide channel 14 for guide channel 22 in order to register both the head elements and the backing elements simultaneously. The last two of these embodiments would require modification of the channel 14 so that the projections on the head or backing elements hang down. Also backing elements to be registered would have to be provided with some notch or projection along the periphery which will engage with a head portion and effect the desired registration.

The head portions 122 and 136 of the first and second pusher arms 114 and 128, respectively, have been shown with rather simple profiles for the sake of simplicity in the drawings. It is within the scope of the present invention to provide these head portions, and the portion 136 in particular, with any of a wide variety of configurations designed to mate with the associated head or backing elements and prevent rotation of the elements beyond the registration or stopping position. For example, a lower lip could be provided on the head portion shown to define a channel having the shape of a section through the associated element.

Inasmuch as the present invention is subject to many variations, modifications and changes in detail, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for attaching head elements and mating backing elements of two-component fasteners to material at a setting station by means of an anvil and cooperating ram, an improved apparatus for feeding said head elements, which head elements have a design on the obverse and at least two prongs and a peripheral irregularity on the reverse, to arrive at the setting station with the designs always in register, comprising head element hopper means including means to dispense head elements therefrom; head element guide channel means having a first end for receiving head elements and a second end opening at the setting station, said guide channel means including a pair of spaced, opposing side walls and a bottom surface extending between said side walls, one of said side walls having a roughened surface directed toward the longitudinal axis of the channel;

chute means for receiving head elements dispensed from said hopper means and feeding the head elements to said first end of said guide channel means, said chute means being disposed to deliver the head elements toward a portion of one of said side walls of said guide channel means, said portion of said side wall having a bevelled surface for engaging the prongs of the head elements as the head elements reach said guide channel means; and pusher arm means for pushing the head elements through said guide channel means with opposing peripheral edge portions frictionally engaging said side walls whereby the difference in coefficient of friction between opposing peripheral edge portions of the head elements and each of said side walls causes the head elements to rotate until the peripheral irregularity engages said pusher arm means preventing further rotation of the head elements and assuring proper registration; said pusher arm means including a pusher member reciprocating in said guide channel means, a first I pusher arm pivotally mounted on said pusher member for moving the head elements from said first end of said guide channel means to a position intermediate said first and second ends of said guide channel means, and a second pusher arm pivotally mounted on-said pusher member for moving the head elements from said intermediate position to said second end of'saidguide channel means, said first pusher arm having an offset portion movable past said chute means at said first end of said guide channel means to permit a next successive head element to enter said guide channel means during reciprocating movement of said pusher member.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said guide channel means includes a projectionextending from said side wall having said bevelled surface to prevent passage of the head elements through said guide channel means until positively moved by said first pusher arm, and cam means having a cam surface inclined downwardly in the direction of feed, said cam means being mounted to cam downward the raised edges of the head elementsuntil the head elements are fully raised on said bottom surface.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said first pusher arm is movable to engage the head elements at said chute means and push the head elements on a forward stroke past said projection and said cam means to said intermediate position and to ride over the next successive head element at the end of said chute means on a return stroke.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said guide channel means includes a longitudinal slot in said bottom surface, said second pusher arm being movable to extend upwardly through said slot and push the head elements through said guide channel means past said side wall having said roughened surface, and'said second pusher arm having a profiled front end for engaging the periphery of the head elements and the peripheral irregularity of the head elements.

5. In an apparatus for attaching head elements and mating backing elements of two-component fasteners tomaterial at a setting station by means of an anvil and cooperating ram, an improved apparatus for feeding said head elements, which head elements have a design on the obverse and at least two prongs and a peripheral irregularity on the reverse, to arrive at the setting station with the designs always in register, comprising head element hopper means including means to dispense head elements therefrom;

sequentially feeding to a guide channel elements having a design on the obverse and at least two prongs and a peripheral irregularity on the reverse,

pushing the elements longitudinally through the guide channel by a forward stroke of pusher arm means,

delivering a next successive element to the guide channel during the forward stroke of the pusher arm means, and

contactingv the opposing peripheral edge portions of the elements with surfaces having different coefficients of friction as the elements are pushed through the guide channel to rotate the elements until the peripheral irregularity engages the pusher arm means to prevent further rotation and hold the elements in registration. i

6. A method for feeding elements of two-component fasteners to a setting station of an attaching apparatus in which the elements reach the setting station with designs in registration, comprising the steps of head element guide channel means having a first end for receiving head elements and a second end opening at the setting station, said guide channel means including a pair of spaced, opposing side walls and a bottom surface extending between said side walls, one of said side walls having a roughened surface directed toward the longitudinal axis of the channel;

chute means for receiving head elements dispensed from said hopper means and feeding the head elements to said first end of said guide channel means; and

pusher arm means for pushing the head elements through said guide channel means with opposing peripheral edge portions frictionally engaging said side walls such that the difference in coefficient of friction between opposing peripheral edge portions of the head elements and each of said side walls causes the head elements to rotate until the peripheral irregularity engages said pusher arm means preventing further rotation of the head elements and assuring proper registration, said pusher arm means including a pusher member reciprocating in said guide channel means, a first pusher arm pivot ally mounted on said pusher member for moving the head elements from said first end of said guide channel means to a position intermediate said first and second ends of said guide channel means and a second pusher arm pivotally mounted on said pusher member for moving the head elements from said intermediate position to said second end of said guide channel means, said first pusher arm having an offset portion movable past said chute means to permit a head element to enter said guide channel means during reciprocating movement of said pusher member. 

1. In an apparatus for attaching head elements and mating backing elements of two-component fasteners to material at a setting station by means of an anvil and cooperating ram, an improved apparatus for feeding said head elements, which head elements have a design on the obverse and at least two prongs and a peripheral irregularity on the reverse, to arrive at the setting station with the designs always in register, comprising head element hopper means including means to dispense head elements therefrom; head element guide channel means having a first end for receiving head elements and a second end opening at the setting station, said guide channel means including a pair of spaced, opposing side walls and a bottom surface extending between said side walls, one of said side walls having a roughened surface directed toward the longitudinal axis of the channel; chute means for receiving head elements dispensed from said hopper means and feeding the head elements to said first end of said guide channel means, said chute means being disposed to deliver the head elements toward a portion of one of said side walls of said guide channel means, said portion of said side wall having a bevelled surface for engaging the prongs of the head elements as the head elements reach said guide channel means; and pusher arm means for pushing the head elements through said guide channel means with opposing peripheral edge portions frictionally engaging said side walls whereby the difference in coefficient of friction between opposing peripheral edge portions of the head elements and each of said side walls causes the head elements to rotate until the peripheral irregularity engages said pusher arm means preventing further rotation of the head elements and assuring proper registration; said pusher arm means including a pusher member reciprocating in said guide channel means, a first pusher arm pivotally mounted on said pusher member for moving the head elements from said first end of said guide channel means to a position intermediate said first and second ends of said guide channel means, and a second pusher arm pivotally mounted on said pusher member for moving the head elements from said intermediate position to said second end of said guide channel means, said first pusher arm having an offset portion movable past said chute means at said first end of said guide channel means to permit a next successive head element to enter said guide channel means during reciprocatIng movement of said pusher member.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said guide channel means includes a projection extending from said side wall having said bevelled surface to prevent passage of the head elements through said guide channel means until positively moved by said first pusher arm, and cam means having a cam surface inclined downwardly in the direction of feed, said cam means being mounted to cam downward the raised edges of the head elements until the head elements are fully raised on said bottom surface.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said first pusher arm is movable to engage the head elements at said chute means and push the head elements on a forward stroke past said projection and said cam means to said intermediate position and to ride over the next successive head element at the end of said chute means on a return stroke.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said guide channel means includes a longitudinal slot in said bottom surface, said second pusher arm being movable to extend upwardly through said slot and push the head elements through said guide channel means past said side wall having said roughened surface, and said second pusher arm having a profiled front end for engaging the periphery of the head elements and the peripheral irregularity of the head elements.
 5. In an apparatus for attaching head elements and mating backing elements of two-component fasteners to material at a setting station by means of an anvil and cooperating ram, an improved apparatus for feeding said head elements, which head elements have a design on the obverse and at least two prongs and a peripheral irregularity on the reverse, to arrive at the setting station with the designs always in register, comprising head element hopper means including means to dispense head elements therefrom; sequentially feeding to a guide channel elements having a design on the obverse and at least two prongs and a peripheral irregularity on the reverse, pushing the elements longitudinally through the guide channel by a forward stroke of pusher arm means, delivering a next successive element to the guide channel during the forward stroke of the pusher arm means, and contacting the opposing peripheral edge portions of the elements with surfaces having different coefficients of friction as the elements are pushed through the guide channel to rotate the elements until the peripheral irregularity engages the pusher arm means to prevent further rotation and hold the elements in registration.
 6. A method for feeding elements of two-component fasteners to a setting station of an attaching apparatus in which the elements reach the setting station with designs in registration, comprising the steps of head element guide channel means having a first end for receiving head elements and a second end opening at the setting station, said guide channel means including a pair of spaced, opposing side walls and a bottom surface extending between said side walls, one of said side walls having a roughened surface directed toward the longitudinal axis of the channel; chute means for receiving head elements dispensed from said hopper means and feeding the head elements to said first end of said guide channel means; and pusher arm means for pushing the head elements through said guide channel means with opposing peripheral edge portions frictionally engaging said side walls such that the difference in coefficient of friction between opposing peripheral edge portions of the head elements and each of said side walls causes the head elements to rotate until the peripheral irregularity engages said pusher arm means preventing further rotation of the head elements and assuring proper registration, said pusher arm means including a pusher member reciprocating in said guide channel means, a first pusher arm pivotally mounted on said pusher member for moving the head elements from said first end of said guide channel means to a position Intermediate said first and second ends of said guide channel means and a second pusher arm pivotally mounted on said pusher member for moving the head elements from said intermediate position to said second end of said guide channel means, said first pusher arm having an offset portion movable past said chute means to permit a head element to enter said guide channel means during reciprocating movement of said pusher member. 